


Day Two Hundred Fifty-Nine || Soap Bubbles

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [259]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 02:40:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20686157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: Sasuke has conquered his fair share of powerful and dangerous foes...but can he defeat...bathtime?





	Day Two Hundred Fifty-Nine || Soap Bubbles

Uchiha Sasuke has been many things over the course of his lifetime. And _done_ many things. Many of them, in most eyes, have been bad...or at the very least, misunderstood. His path seeking justice for the genocide of his clan led him down some dark and dreary roads. Not every choice was made with the best of intentions. Overall he can’t regret his course...but even he can admit some decisions could have been made better. But a young, angry, powerful man doesn’t always make the right choices.

This, however...is one of the few he knows he’ll never regret.

There’d been fear, at first. Even before this decision, the one made to involve Hinata with him personally was not easily made. With new threats looming in the shadows of the few Uchiha left, he knew it would be dangerous. As did she. But...they pressed on, and decided to prioritize what happiness they could find over a safer - and more lonely - path.

That had been odd enough, finally admitting he’d fallen in love with someone. After so long of being alone, and feeling misunderstood by nearly everyone...he’d not only found a person he could truly call a friend...but one that had captured his heart in a way no one else ever had. Hinata was...soothing. After feeling so alone, and angry, and...hurt for so long, she was like a salve on every wound he’d ever suffered. Once he realized what he felt, and what it meant...he knew there would never be another. She molded to his edges like no one else ever had, or would again.

But, as typical of any young couple...the question of children eventually arose. His brother’s children had elicited a pride and a terror like Sasuke had never known. The first Uchiha born - even if only half blood - since the massacre against their clan a decade before. They represented hope...and a weakness. He knew from the moment he finally got to meet them that he would do anything - _anything_ \- to protect them.

Sasuke, however...could not trust himself. He guarded his niece and nephew from afar, visiting as an uncle should. But the notion of children of his own - of being responsible for a life so small, so fragile - instilled a fear he’d never felt before. For so long, he’d hardened himself to the world. Developed reflexes that could kill a man in a blink. The idea of being close to a child so often - of putting them at risk of receiving an unintended blow when his instincts kicked in - it...terrified him.

For quite some time, he refused the notion, no matter Hinata’s gentle coaxing. He was certain there would be no taming his threat. But slowly, with encouragement from the whole of his family, he began to overcome it.

And eventually...he agreed to try.

Around the same time as Naruto and Sakura - and many of their other agemates - Sasuke and Hinata received confirmation: she was with child. And so, in the middle of the August heat, she bore a son, named Tenkai after the heavens.

Sasuke had never known such pride, such vulnerability, such...humble realization that this - _this_ \- was what truly mattered.

Family.

It had been all he ever fought for. All he’d ever lived for. And now...now, he had a life half his own, to protect and to nurture.

...he could only hope he’d do so right.

Within the next two years, they had a second child: a daughter, Chikyū, named for the earth. Two sides of the same coin, like the teachings the Sage of the Six Paths had tried to instill in him during the war. Yin and yang. Heaven and earth. Two halves of the same whole.

Fatherhood was a scary unknown...but one he would learn beside the woman who had helped him overcome his lingering demons. With Hinata by his side...he could do anything.

...even handle bathtime.

He swears they’re growing like weeds. One moment he turns around, and they’ve suddenly grown another inch. But Tenkai is now five, Chikyū soon to be four, and with Hinata out of the village for a few days, that leaves bathing the pair of them to Sasuke.

And what a circus that is.

Attempting to clean them before they soak in the tub is like juggling two bars of soap. As soon as he focuses on one, the other is bouncing around the washroom like a monkey. There’s water and soap bubbles everywhere!

“Tenkai, leave that alone. You can’t get in the tub until -” Reaching for his son, he sees from the corner of his eye as his daughter abandons the stool he’d sat her on. “Chikyū, don’t put that in your mouth!”

The girl immediately spits out the soap with a cry of distaste, tears springing up.

Sasuke sighs as she hiccups. “I tried to tell you...but at least you know now. Tenkai, don’t pull on -”

By some miracle, after half an hour of wrangling the pair, he gets them decently clean and rinsed before setting them both in the tub. Only then can he stop to wash himself. How his wife manages this so well, he’ll never know…that woman is something otherworldly.

“All right, scoot over,” he instructs, making his way in and rising the water level all the higher with his bulk. “Now...isn’t this nice? Family bath time, with warm water, and peace and quiet?”

Tenkai just nods, trying to make a little whirlpool with his hands. His sister sits near the edge of the tub, hands over the lip and resting her chin atop them.

Eventually, when their fingers begin to prune, Sasuke gets them out and dries them, thankful to find that the warmth has mostly dulled their antics. Instead, they sleepily hang about as he towels them off and redresses them in freshly-washed clothes.

“There...don’t you feel better, all nice and clean?”

“Guess so,” his boy replies, Chikyū tugging at her shirt hem to look at the design across the front.

“Why is it so difficult to give you two a bath?” Sasuke asks, looking to his son with a mix of weariness and amusement on his face.

“Cuz baths are boring!”

“You know, it wouldn’t take so long if you just sat still and let it happen. It’s all your monkeying around that makes it such a chore.”

“That’s what makes it fun!” Chikyū pipes up.

“Well...it makes me very tired. And if I’m tired, well…” Sasuke makes a show of stretching with a yawn. “Then rather than take you out for a yummy supper...we’ll just have to stay here and have some of your mother’s leftovers…”

The pair quickly perk up. “Go out? Where?”

“Nowhere, now. I’m all worn out from chasing you two around the washroom all afternoon. I think it’s best we stay in and take it easy.”

Their faces both fall. “...we’re sorry...can we still go out? Huh? We’ll be real good and quiet!”

Expression carefully blank, Sasuke considers them. “...do you promise to behave next time we have a bath?”

“Yeah, yeah!”

“Well...all right. But,” he cuts in, holding up a hand as they cheer. “...if I have to give you a warning next time we have bathtime, there will be _no more_ dinners out. Understand? Only good little Uchiha get to have fun nights out with their father. Otherwise...we’ll stay in and practice your manners, instead.”

Looking properly contrite, the pair run to their rooms to get their jackets once Sasuke releases them. Finding himself alone, he gives a soft chuckle, head shaking. This whole parenting thing...it has its moments. But he could still do without chasing two slippery little rascals every time they take a bath.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there's a lil bit of angst to start, but...in the end, we get some good famjam fluff x3 Sasuke with kids is honestly a bit difficult to write...I think because he himself isn't quite sure how to act, haha~ I never got that far in the old fic, so he never got much practice, nor has he done it much with RP. So if he seems a little...standoffish, well...that's cuz he is!
> 
> Anyway, I'm still behind, and still exhaustingly busy. Tomorrow'll probably be more of the same. But at least I haven't fallen more than a day back...yet :'D For now though, it's time for me to get some shut-eye - thanks for reading!


End file.
